After the storm (53 page)

"Mmmm…confirmed," she murmured a little while later, gazing
into his eyes. "This magic gets even better with time."

"No
doubt about that," he replied, kissing her some more. "But we have
to keep testing it, though, and as often as possible." He touched
his lips to hers again and then lifted his head, his eyes tender as
he looked at her. "I love you so much, baby."

"I love
you too…" she began, but stopped as she felt her stomach heave. She
tried to suppress it but couldn't as another wave of nausea
followed suit. Before she knew it, she was running to the bathroom,
Akeem right behind her.

"Baby,
are you okay?" he asked anxiously as she threw up into the toilet
bowl. She slowly stood upright, but she felt so drained of
energy.

"I'm not
sure that sushi agreed with me after all." She grimaced. "I feel so
awful."

Akeem
looked worried as he stroked her back gently. "It's my fault. I
shouldn't have made you eat it."

They
went back to the sitting room, but her stomach still felt queasy.
"I think I'll just have an early night," she finally said. "I'm
sure I'll feel better in the morning."

"No
worries. You just go up. I'll put off the appliances and join
you."

He came
into her bedroom a few minutes later and sat by her bedside. She
felt better but still had the occasional tingle in her stomach. She
was definitely off sushi for life.

She
looked questioningly at Akeem. He was frowning slightly.

"My
ego's been seriously dented. I kissed you and the next minute you
puked."

That
made her smile. "It's got to be the sushi because this girl
definitely likes your kisses."

He
heaved an exaggerated sigh of relief. "I've still got to work on my
technique, though. Can't afford to get rusty."

Like
that was even possible. "You can use me as your guinea pig for
testing your technique," she volunteered solemnly. "But maybe…not
after eating sushi."

He
tweaked her nose. "Yeah…otherwise you may just put my hard work to
shame."

∞∞∞

The
nausea was back the next morning. Yemi tried to control it, but
before she knew it, she was running to the bathroom again. She
threw up into the toilet bowl and continued retching even when
nothing seemed to be coming out.

"Take it
easy, baby," Akeem said, stroking her back. "You're going to be
just fine."

She
leaned heavily against him. She was feeling so ill. Her body ached,
and she felt a headache coming on.

"Have a
bit of water," Akeem said, holding the glass towards her. She
rinsed her mouth and then took a sip.

"You'll
be just fine, baby," Akeem said again while leading her back to
bed. She drew the duvet around her, shivering a little. She had
thought she would be able to go to the office. Aleena was fine
enough for her not to worry about leaving her alone with Kufre
anymore, but the prospect didn't seem likely now. Not with the way
that she was feeling.

Akeem
stood looking down at her thoughtfully.

"I hope
I haven't caught a bug. Some of that food is raw, isn't it?" Even
the thought of it was making her feel sick again.

"But I
ate it as well, and I'm fine," he said, sitting down by her
bedside.

"It's
not been exactly easy these past few weeks. The stress must have
taken its toll on me," she said, remembering the sleepless nights
she had spent at Aleena's bedside. That drill was enough to break
anyone down. The sushi had only triggered it. "I need a proper
holiday soon."

"That
can be arranged," Akeem said, but he was still looking at her
strangely.

"What?"
She grimaced, turning on her side as she felt another wave of
nausea building up. There surely couldn't be anything left in her
stomach to throw up.

"Are you
okay?" he asked, a concerned look on his face when he saw her
squirming on the bed.

"I'm
feeling sick again."

"Hmmm…"
he grunted, sitting by her and rubbing her back lightly. "Do you
have a domestic kit in the house?"

She
stared at him. "Why should I? I've been on my own for almost three
years, remember?" She thought of Lois, and her eyes hardened a
little. Had they been using domestic pregnancy kits?

"We've
been together for over two months."

Yemi
frowned. He was beginning to make her headache worse. Did he think
she didn't know her own body? They were together for two years
before she could conceive her son, and for almost eight months
before their split. She hadn't even conceived Aleena that easily.
It had taken six months.

"Akeem,
believe me, it can't be what you're thinking."

"What
makes you so sure?"

Her
frown deepened. The skeptical look on his face was a bit annoying.
"Because I'm sure." She had just had a period not that long ago,
and she told him.

She
rolled a little on the bed. Her stomach was feeling queasy again. A
strong wave of nausea had her running to the bathroom. Akeem rubbed
her back while she retched violently and then led her back to the
bedroom and tucked her in again.

"Do you
have some ginger in the house?" he asked.

She
nodded, too weak to answer him.

"I'm
going to make you some of that drink you liked so much. Ginger and
a bit of honey. That used to help your nausea those days with
Aleena. After that, we're going to see the doctor."

She
wished that he would stop. She didn't want anyone building up her
hopes. "Akeem, I've told you, it's not what you think…"

He shook
his head as he looked at her. "When I was a kid, they taught us
about 'Doubting Thomas' at Sunday school." He tilted his head
slightly. "I just wonder if he had a sister called Yemi." He smiled
when he saw her indignant face. "Baby, even if you're not pregnant,
we still need to investigate the reason for the nausea."

"Someone
was trying to poison me with sushi," she muttered.

He bent
down and kissed her forehead. "That someone is still unaffected,
and he ate more than you did. But not to worry; I'll get the
drink."

∞∞∞

He was
right. They were six weeks pregnant. Yemi stared in disbelief at
the test result, tears of gratitude running down her face. The
words to the song "How Great Is Our God?" reverberated around in
her head. She could not stop crying or giving thanks to
God.

Akeem
tucked her up in bed when they got back home. Aleena was with Kufre
downstairs. She would be so excited to hear the news, but there was
plenty of time to tell her later.

"God is
just so awesome," Akeem said, staring into space. "I can't believe
how he's worked things out, even for someone like me."

Yemi
looked at him. There he was again, talking about God so naturally.
"Something's changed about you, Akeem."

He
smiled slightly. "I had a little talk with God while Aleena was in
surgery. I was desperate. My daughter's life hung in the balance,
and there was nothing I could do about it." He paused, as if the
memory still hurt to think about it. "It was a short discussion,
but I know God heard me. I already had questions anyway. Life
seemed meaningless, pointless, just a vicious circle. I felt like
there had to be more than what I had seen or experienced." He
touched her face lightly with his index finger. "Remember that
seminar I attended at your church?" She nodded, and he continued.
"The pastor spoke about the peace that only God can give. I saw
that peace in all of you. I scoffed at it, but deep inside of me, I
found it very fascinating. This was not anyone Bible-bashing me. It
was hard evidence before my eyes because, apart from Tanya, I knew
everyone else quite well and could also see the changes quite
clearly when they happened."

Yemi
stared at him wonderingly. And to think she had thought he was
unaffected by the seminar since he didn't discuss anything other
than the business section.

"I
called Pastor Ben when Aleena came out of the coma, and we've met
up a few times since then. I told him not to let you know. I wanted
you to notice the difference in me for yourself."

She now
understood why both of them had seemed so chummy whenever he called
to ask about Aleena's welfare. She had just thought her pastor was
impressed with Akeem's trademark charming personality.

"I've
noticed you mentioning the name of God and all that, and I've been
wondering about it, but it just seemed too good to be
true."

"Maybe
we should really change your name to Thomasina or Thomasia. What do
you think?" he asked with a straight face and then ducked when she
tried to smack him. "Hey, be careful…my baby is on board," he told
her in a mock-stern voice.

She made
a face at him but lay back against the pillows.

He took
her hand in his and looked into her eyes. "About Coral…"

Yemi
shook her head. "Forget about her."

"Thank
you, but I do need you to know that I'm so very sorry about what I
did. I wish I could turn back the clock. I can't, but just know
that you mean the world to me. By God's grace, I'll never give you
cause to doubt my faithfulness to you ever again."

She
touched his face. "And I'm sorry that I allowed bitterness take
over me to such an extent that I didn't care about my actions
anymore."

He
covered her hand with his. "I'm not perfect, but with God's help,
I'll try my best to be a good husband and father to you and our
kids."

She
smiled up at him. "I'll do the same, starting by moving back to our
home and becoming your live-in mistress."

"And
wife," he added softly.

THE END

About the author

Osar
Adeyemi loves reading and started writing short stories which she
shared with family and friends when she was a
teenager. 

She
believes that one of the effective ways through which God's message
of salvation, love and restoration can be related to the world is
through fictional stories that readers can identify
with.

Osar
also enjoys cooking, traveling and teaching/mentoring teenagers and
young adults at the charity she belongs to. 

She is
an optometrist by profession and lives in England with her
family. 

She loves to hear from readers and you can reach her
at 
O
[email protected]